Jake Gyllenhaal says 'The Covenant' is the first movie he's starred in that made him cry when he watched it
Jake Gyllenhaal told Insider he's never cried watching one of his movies — until now.
His latest, the war movie "Guy Ritchie's The Covenant," broke that streak.
"This movie did when I saw it, which I was very surprised by," he told Insider.
Jake Gyllenhaal admits he usually doesn't get emotional when watching his movies, but that all changed when he saw his latest, "Guy Ritchie's The Covenant."
"I don't think I've ever watched a movie that I've been in and it's made me cry," Gyllenhaal told Insider. "This movie did when I saw it, which I was very surprised by."
In the movie, out Friday, Gyllenhaal plays an army sergeant who, during the war in Afghanistan, is rescued by his platoon's interpreter, Ahmed (Dar Salim), following a bloody firefight with the Taliban. Ahmed saves his life by dragging him to safety through the mountains for days on end.
Back home in the US, Gyllenhaal's character learns the interpreter and his family are still in Afghanistan hiding from the Taliban. Unable to get his superiors to extract him, Kinley returns to the country alone to repay his unspoken debt and get Ahmed out.
Gyllenhaal, 42, is no stranger to working with heavy material. But he said by the time the movie's ending came around, he couldn't hold back his emotions.
"I can't really watch myself on screen, but the story here came through," the Oscar nominee said.
He also said that the movie's first big action scene, the firefight from which his character is rescued, also got him choked up.
"Guy tells a story, particularly through action, he really tells an emotional story," he said, referring to his director Guy Ritchie.
"It just reminded me what we are as Americans and world citizens," Gyllenhaal continued, explaining why this movie touched him unlike any other he's done over his 30-plus year career.
"Doing good is not without grudge or complications and a lot of complexity," he added. "This is a movie that says doing good is through action."
This marks the first time Gyllenhaal has teamed with Ritchie, who is known for his action-packed tales like 2000's "Snatch" with Brad Pitt, "The Gentlemen" in 2019 starring Matthew McConaughey, and his most recent, "Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre" with Jason Statham.
"The Covenant" currently has an 80% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
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